life and stuff

POW Kitchen, St Kilda

If you desire a lunch that packs a (chilli) punch, seek out a meal at the Prince Bandroom’s POW Kitchen in St Kilda. Executive chef Daniel Hawkins (ex-Longrain) and head chef Woosun Choi (ex-Newmarket Hotel) ensure their love for chilli is evident in many of the South East Asian dishes, adding the perfect kaPOW to a bunch of authentic and powerful flavours.

POW Kitchen has a superbly located balcony overlooking the ever-intriguing Fitzroy Street. This means you can laze away the afternoon, watching the street’s colourful characters stride by below, while munching on a fine array of yumminess. The menu includes crisp school prawns wrapped in betel leaves, soft-shell crab with green mango and super spicy Kung Pao Chicken. All delicious.

Cocktail concoctions abound with an enthusiastic bar manager eager to please – and occasionally create new tastes on request. Drinks such as Pomiscuous Girl ( spiced rum, pomegranate, mint and lime) and Mango Baba (Cachaca, Montenegro, mango, soy and vanilla) can be ordered in pitchers or in glasses. And naturally, the classic Aperol Spritz is virtually on tap. A total of 14 cocktails and 28 brews and nearly 30 wines.

It’s a place ripe for further discovery. It’s a place to share a magnificent pile of fried Mochico chicken ribs with green chilli kewpie. It’s a place to please those who enjoy genuine, tangy flavours in a truly laid-back setting. Oh, there’s also a “South East Feast” which at 45 dollars a head (minimum two people) is a pleasantly surprising string of sensational sharing plates. KaPOW.